The impact of protocol designs for using massage guns on lower body flexibility: A randomised cross-over design study.

Introduction: Current protocols for delivering percussive therapy (PT) using massage guns are heterogeneous creating a need to establish the impact of study design on physiological measures. This cross-over design study aimed to determine the most effective protocol, among the eight protocols examined, on lower body flexibility, and to support the provision of protocol validation for future research.

Method: Recreationally active healthy adults (n = 35) undertook two main protocols; three sessions per week at 2100 rpm or increasing the speed from session-to-session: 1750 to 2100-2400 rpm.

The Effect Of Percussive Therapy On Musculoskeletal Performance And Experiences Of Pain: A Systematic Literature Review.

Background: There is a lack of specific research on the effect of percussive therapy (PT) delivered by massage guns on physiological adaptations. This systematic literature review investigates research conducted on the effects of PT interventions on performance in strength and conditioning settings, and on experiences of musculoskeletal pain.

Purpose: To determine the effect of PT delivered by massage guns on physiological adaptations: muscle strength, explosive muscle strength and flexibility, and experiences of musculoskeletal pain.

Developing a Framework to Support the Delivery of Effective Pain Management for Children: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.

Two million children are admitted to hospital every year in the UK and between 59% and 94% will experience pain, with 27-40% of them experiencing moderate to severe pain. Currently, there are a number of well-researched guidelines on children's pain available, yet pain prevalence is high. Despite the guidelines, there is a lack of an overall framework that includes the necessary components to deliver effective pain management.

Interventions that prevent or reduce obesity in children from birth to five years of age: A systematic review.

Childhood obesity worldwide affects 5.6% or 38.3 million children under five years of age.

Developing a Sense of Knowing and Acquiring the Skills to Manage Pain in Children with Profound Cognitive Impairments: Mothers' Perspectives.

Children with profound cognitive impairment (PCI) are a heterogenous group who often experience frequent and persistent pain. Those people closest to the child are key to assessing their pain. This mixed method study aimed to explore how parents acquire knowledge and skills in assessing and managing their child's pain.

Navigating Uncertainty: Health Professionals' Knowledge, Skill, and Confidence in Assessing and Managing Pain in Children with Profound Cognitive Impairment.

There is limited evidence to underpin the assessment and management of pain in children with profound cognitive impairment and these children are vulnerable to poor pain assessment and management. Health professionals working with children with profound cognitive impairment from a single paediatric tertiary referral centre in England were interviewed to explore how they develop and acquire knowledge and skills to assess and manage pain in children with cognitive impairment. The interviews were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis.

How to prepare conference abstracts and poster presentations.

An effective way of disseminating nursing research is to present it at a national or international conference.

A Proposed Model of the Effective Management of Children's Pain.

The aim of this study was to understand the various factors that contribute to the delivery of effective pain management. The current picture of pain management is complex and contradictory, with children in the hospital still experiencing unnecessary pain, nurses reporting better pain care than is evidenced, and parents who are reluctant to report their child's pain. There is a real need to focus on areas of excellence where pain management innovations have been successfully implemented.

Research essentials: How to find funds to support projects.

IF YOU HAVE an idea for a research project, whether it is an investigation or a literature review, it can be difficult to know where to start looking for financial support. Finding colleagues to work with will provide you with a sounding board for your idea, as well as support and encouragement.

Preceptorship: ensuring the best possible start for new nurses.

The impending change to nurse education with the move to an all-degree profession in the UK from 2013 and the increasing demands made on nurses working in the NHS make successful transition from student to staff nurse a high priority. The stress of this move can be minimised by efficient preceptorship for the first six months of practice. As part of a practice-based project two focus groups were formed to discover the views of preceptors and preceptees in children's nursing on what their programme should include and achieve.

An introduction to Q methodology.

Aim: To explain Q methodology, an untraditional approach to nursing research, by exploring the various stages involved in it and using two studies.

Background: Q has some of the advantages of qualitative and quantitative, methodologies. A defining principle of Q is its assumption that subjective viewpoints are amenable to systematic analysis.

Identifying medication errors in surgical prescription charts.

Background: Each year 200 million prescriptions for children and adolescents are issued in the UK, with a 1.5 per cent prevalence of errors.

Aim: To identify and quantify medication errors on surgical children's prescription charts over a four-month period at two hospital sites.

Influences on nurses' scoring of children's post-operative pain.

There is a lack of clarity as to why some nurses are not delivering optimal pain management to children post-operatively. This retrospective chart review study examined nurses' pain scoring on 175 children during the first 24 hours post-operatively. Data were analysed on the amount of assessments made, assessment scores recorded, as well as the age, gender and type of surgery performed.

Post-operative pain: the impact of prescribing patterns on nurses' administration of analgesia.

Unlabelled: In the past 30 years, significant improvements have been made in the management of children's pain, with most children receiving analgesia post-operatively. However, the amount of analgesia administered to children after surgery varies depending on a number of factors.

Aims: To measure the difference between what children are prescribed for analgesia post-operatively and what they are administered in the first 24 hours following surgery and to explore the influence of the analgesic being prescribed 'as required' or regularly.

Changing practice: implementing validated paediatric pain assessment tools.

This study attempted to address a lack of evidence-based pain management by implementing validated pain assessment tools across a children's hospital. The method used was action research. The first part of this study where nurses' views of pain tools was elicited has already been reported (Simons and Macdonald, 2004).

Parents' support and satisfaction with their child's postoperative care.

It is recognized that parents' presence during their child's hospitalization is of benefit to the parents and the child. However, the level of parental involvement in their child's care may be influenced by many factors, such as the amount of support nurses provide for parents. This article reports on two themes from the findings of a larger study on parental involvement in children's postoperative pain management - parental support and parents' satisfaction with their child's postoperative pain management.

Poor communication and knowledge deficits: obstacles to effective management of children's postoperative pain.

Aim Of The Study: To explore the perceptions of nurses and parents of the management of postoperative pain in children. This paper focuses on issues of knowledge and communication.

Background: Nurses are the key health care professionals with responsibility for managing children's pain, however, nurses are not well supported educationally to manage the level of responsibility.

An action research study exploring how education may enhance pain management in children.

The aim of this study was to explore and address the views of children's nurses in relation to their educational needs on pain management. Action research was the methodology used: focus groups were run to identify the problem of nurses' educational needs; action planning was used to develop a short programme of study for nurses to address identified needs. Evaluation was by questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.